Democrats Won’t Stop Bush’s Mercenary Armies in Iraq

However obfuscated by discussions of accountability, fiscal responsibility, and oversight, the gorilla of a question in the Congressional war room is: Should the administration be allowed to use mercenary forces, whose livelihoods depend on war and conflict, to help fight its battles in Iraq?

Rep. Murtha says, “We’re trying to bring accountability to an unaccountable war.” But it’s not accountability that the war needs; it needs an end.

By sanctioning the administration’s continuing use of mercenary corporations — instead of cutting off all funding to them — the Democrats leave the door open for a future escalation of the shadow war in Iraq. This, in turn, could pave the way for an array of secretive, politically well-connected firms that have profited tremendously under the current administration to elevate their status and increase their government paycheck read more